Seasoning that may have had its chips

The Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (Coma) has recommended that we reduce our average daily intake of sodium from 9g to 6g. This, some experts say, could save between 35,000 and 40,000 lives a year. The problem is, however, that we just can't get away from salt.

It isn't just the little mountain on the side of the plate at each meal, which can amount to a level teaspoonful in itself. The staff of life contains 160mgs of sodium in just two slices, and our cereals, canned foods, bacon, butter, and cheese are all guilty of adding to our intake. It can range from 1mg in apple sauce to 700mg in a hamburger in a bun.

A Coma study says that 65-85% of our dietary salt comes from processed foods, and that is why the call went out yesterday to the food manufacturers to ca' canny on the salt cellar. The Food and Drinks Federation, which represents 90% of food and drink manufacturers in the UK, countered that despite the health concerns, there was ''no consensus view on the likelihood of benefit to the health of the general population if salt intake were reduced''. Then they turned the blame back on the consumer, suggesting that when they introduced low-salt ranges consumers went on selecting the standard products.

Food manufacturers have a vested interest in keeping salt in food, of course. It is the cheapest flavouring, and salt, according to Dr Ann Ralph of the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, doesn't only make food tasty but is a cheap filler, and it makes people eat and drink more.

The food manufacturers cannot deny the links which have long been established between high intake of salt and high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, but opinion is divided in the medical profession as to whether a reduction of salt in processed foods could really have a dramatic effect. One of the experts to address yesterday's conference, Professor Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at St George's Hospital Medical School in London and founder of the pressure group the Consensus Action on Salt and Hypertension, says: ''The message is very simple. We all in the UK eat far too much salt a day. This puts up the blood pressure of the whole population, which is a major risk for stroke and one of three major risk factors for coronary vascular diseases.''

In Glasgow, however, where the Royal Infirmary is at the sharp end of dealing with the high West-of-Scotland rates of cardiovascular disease, consultant cardiologist Dr Adrian Brady is sceptical about removing just ''one small risk factor'' from a list of many, including obesity, smoking, cholesterol, and lack of exercise. An accumulation of too much salt over the years can mean that the kidneys have difficulty in processing it, leading to high blood pressure, he explains.

The major problem in his eyes, however, is not just too much salt but too much food in general. ''Obesity is a greater problem,'' he says. So while it is prudent to avoid adding salt to the cooking and to avoid processed foods in general, Dr Brady suggests that high hopes of improvement from a reduction in salt in processed foods is ''optimistic''.

Even so, the food industry in the Scandanavian countries has turned around heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure statistics during the past decade by reducing fat and salt intake in canteens, school meals, and manufactured foods and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, according to Swedish researcher Dr Gun Roos. She believes that collaboration with the food industry played the biggest role in the health changes.

Supermarket chain Safeway was the first retailer to back the Scottish Diet Action Plan in 1996 by reducing fat and sugar by 25% and salt by 33% in a range of own-brand foods, and companies such as Heinz have also made reductions, which means that the British food industry could contribute to a healthy nation. Doctors in Dr Brady's camp, however, would prefer to see us help ourselves by ''aiming for moderation all round''.